Click here if you are having trouble logging into the forums
Privacy Policy |
Please read our Terms
of Service | Signup and
Troubleshooting FAQ | Problems? PM a Red or a Green Gu… uh, User
Starhawk
Post Laureate
Reged: 09/16/08
Loc: Tucson, Arizona
|
Repurposing a Fork Question
#3026963 - 04/06/09 01:47 AM
|
Edit
|
Reply
|
Quote |
Quick Reply
|
|
|
I am considering getting an old Celestar Delixe mount to dismount the OTA, and then fabricateva trapeze mechanism to serve as a support for for small refractor and reflector scopes for astrophotoghraphy. I feel like I don't need the computer capabilities of the usual mounts, and I like the idea of being able to run for extended periods of time on a couple 9v batteries. All in all, I am thinking relatively light mount, no car batteries to lug, and good enough tracking for up to 500mm focal length images with 45- 60 second exposures.
Has anyone out there tried doing this? Are there terrifying gotcha details I am neglecting? Thank you for anything you can add.
|
JAT Observatory
NOT a Wimp
Reged: 02/20/05
Loc: In the Primordial Soup
|
Re: Repurposing a Fork Question
[Re: Starhawk]
#3028643 - 04/06/09 08:09 PM
|
|
Edit
|
Reply
|
Quote |
Quick Reply
|
|
|
I think your biggest hurdle will be get the balance correct.
|
Eddgie
Postmaster
Reged: 02/01/06
|
Re: Repurposing a Fork Question
[Re: Starhawk]
#3028856 - 04/06/09 10:29 PM
|
|
Edit
|
Reply
|
Quote |
Quick Reply
|
|
|
Get an old Polaris mount with RA drive. This drive runs for hours on a single 9V Battery. It will be far more stable than a wedge mounted fork, and lighter to boot.
|
AlienFirstClass
Vendor
Reged: 02/13/09
|
Re: Repurposing a Fork Question
[Re: Starhawk]
#3029041 - 04/07/09 01:13 AM
|
|
Edit
|
Reply
|
Quote |
Quick Reply
|
|
|
Quote:
I am considering getting an old Celestar Delixe mount to dismount the OTA, and then fabricateva trapeze mechanism to serve as a support for for small refractor and reflector scopes for astrophotoghraphy. I feel like I don't need the computer capabilities of the usual mounts, and I like the idea of being able to run for extended periods of time on a couple 9v batteries. All in all, I am thinking relatively light mount, no car batteries to lug, and good enough tracking for up to 500mm focal length images with 45- 60 second exposures.
Has anyone out there tried doing this? Are there terrifying gotcha details I am neglecting? Thank you for anything you can add.
I would like to see what you come up with...I too have a SCT mount that I would like to reuse.
|
ibase
Vendor Affilliate
Reged: 03/20/08
Loc: Manila, Philippines 121*E 14*N
|
Re: Repurposing a Fork Question
[Re: AlienFirstClass]
#3029194 - 04/07/09 05:24 AM
|
|
Edit
|
Reply
|
Quote |
Quick Reply
|
|
|
Sometime back I deforked my old original Nexstar 8 OTA to use on another mount. I attached a Vixen type dovetail to the old mount:
Now I can mount my ST-80 and also a coming WO 102ED or any scope with a Vixen-style dovetail on this old mount.
Best,
|
Starhawk
Post Laureate
Reged: 09/16/08
Loc: Tucson, Arizona
|
Re: Repurposing a Fork Question
[Re: ibase]
#3030285 - 04/07/09 04:48 PM
|
|
Edit
|
Reply
|
Quote |
Quick Reply
|
|
|
Thank you to everyone for the feedback. I have a couple of avenues I am going to continue on:
On the fork question, I am dropping the Celestar conversion, largely since it costs more to buy (ahem, a reason to think about that came up Monday) and still won't be as good as the NexStar 8 GPS I already own- I will just have to buck up and tote a battery or make sure I can park nearby. The conversion will use a carbon fiber structural tray I made using a cheap rectangular cake pan as a tool. I'll need to make adapters for the fork arms, and have already been making vixen dovetail clamps. I will be sure to post pix when it is together.
On the mobile battery powered mount, I already have a Vixen Polaris I adapted to CG-4 motors on both axes with a 10:11 gearing ratio change to go from the speed for the 130 tooth CG-4 motors to the speed for 144 tooth Vixen worm. However, it has fairly large periodic error at close to 80 seconds, peak to peak sinusoid movement, so I am planning to incorporate a mechanical first order drive corrector. I have already modified the mount for having a vixen dovetail clamp and a new lattitude adjuster (the original collapsed). It's a good mount, but putting two tubes on it seems to be a stretch. It does look really good with my white tube C5 on it- it would seem Celestron missed a match made in heaven, there.
I'll let you know how that goes.
Edited by Starhawk (04/07/09 04:51 PM)
|
|
7 registered and 22 anonymous users are browsing this forum.
Moderator: Bowmoreman, bilgebay, iceblaze
Print Thread
|
Forum Permissions
You cannot start new topics
You cannot reply to topics
HTML is disabled
UBBCode is enabled
|
Thread views: 466
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Previous
Index
Next
Threaded
